Another Year Ends, Another Year Begins

My final run for 2013 is done and dusted. I did a good 8km run this morning and that is that for my 2013 running. Another year done.

I finished 2013 with a total of 2840km (1765 miles). Not close to what I planned but I'll take it. 2014 will be better. 

I have some interesting goals for the next few years so keep reading! On that note...thank you everyone for sticking with me and my blog. I really appreciate your following and support. I plan to bring you some entertaining and interesting stories from South Africa going into the New Year.

Already my January plans are not what I thought they would be. I will be in Mauritius from 7 to 15 January. Of course I plan to have some beautiful runs there. If I do you will read all about them here.

Have a wonderful New Year my friends. Stay safe and run strong. 

Holidays - The Time To Run

24 December! Hard to believe but it's true. Christmas 2014 is here. I'm still working and will be for most of the holidays. The office is deserted...

The office this morning - not many people around...

In general everything everywhere is quiet and this means more time available. No traffic jams and no kids to drop off or fetch at school. So there is more time for running! 

Traditionally December is my highest mileage month of the year. It won't be this year but I am using the extra time to get back into full training and will clock a very high number of runs at least.

It is warm, but the mornings are beautiful and perfect for running. This morning's run was warm and in light rain...awesome! I also have time to dip into the pool after my runs. I love December! It is the time to run.

Holiday runs means a dip in the pool afterwards...awesome!

Wishing you all a wonderful, blessed and peaceful Christmas. 

Green Wonderland

This past weekend I ran on my favorite trails for the first time since I cut my foot. I ran in a green wonderland!

Nature is so fantastic. We've had good rain and it is now green everywhere.

I saw Black Wildebeest with two calves. Two Zebras were walking with them.

It was a joy to be out there and I knew again why I love trail running so much.

Not long ago this was all sand and dust...

It was a good run and I was happy. Anette did a walk and was waiting for me at the end. All perfect!

Happy running everyone!

2013 - A Bad Running Year For Me

Looking back at 2013 I can only say that it was not a good year for me when it comes to running. In fact, it was one of the worst running years I've had in a long time.

The year started well with me having a good base and building up to run the Comrades Marathon in June. I was doing road races and all was well.

I really trained hard at this stage and found myself in great shape and losing weight all the time.

This continued until 9 April when I had a bad fall during my training run the morning. I fell on my left knee and although it was bruised quite badly it was the damage on the inside that caused me problems.

The knee was just not right and I could not get any long runs done. By the beginning of May I knew Comrades was out the window for 2013.

The one good thing about this was that I could get back on the trails sooner than I planned. I was now training for the Num-Num trail race in August.

I did fall on the same knee again...

But all went well and I had a good Num-Num.

Even though I was 200% tired and dead after this tough run, it was definitely my best race of the year.

After the Num-Num I continued training for my next big goal, the Otter Trail Run. Everything was going as planned until I got flu which later went over into Bronchitis. I missed all my planned long runs for the Otter.

The race was fantastic, but the flu and bronchitis took its toll. I missed a cutoff and had a DNF at Otter.

After Otter I took a step back to recover completely and then started training again. I was just building up nicely when I got a stomach bug that lasted a full two weeks, but it put my running back a lot more than two weeks...

Finally I recovered and could start training again. I was just getting into my routine when I dropped a broken slate of glass and got a very bad cut on my foot. More weeks lost! By now I knew I would not race again in 2013.

I have my goals lined up for 2014. I am training normally again but I had to step it down a lot. My first big race is on 26 March 2014. I really hope all will go well with my buildup for this.

So that's my 2013 review. Not great at all but at least no serious running injuries. Next year this time I'll be ending a great running year...I really believe that.

Throwback Thursday - My Oldest Running Photo

Someone asked me the other day what my oldest running photo was. I have this one from 1982...

Me finishing the 1982 Wally Hayward Half Marathon.

What is you oldest running photo?

Have a super day everyone!

My Quote For The Next 50 Years

I turned 50 this year. I have big plans for the next 50...

My quote for the next 50: "Age is strictly mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

Happy running everyone!

Foot Update & Hail Storms

The cut on my foot healed very nicely. I am running again and the only problem I have is the bone where the cut was that remains sore. It seems that the piece of glass damaged the bone when it fell into my foot. I can still only wear running shoes as any other or harder shoes are still painful. Other than that I am happy with the healing process.

Definitely a slight swelling still visible.

We are having some crazy storms here in Johannesburg and other parts of Gauteng. Floods and very bad hail storms are causing havoc at the moment. It seems it will continue for three more days.

We were lucky to get the "small" hail last night... In some places it was tennis ball sized!

Have a super weekend everyone! Stay safe!

She did it!!!

Dirt Diva Catra finished her 100th 100 miler in 26:44. Amazing!

Congratulations Catra!

Shout Out To The Dirt Diva Today!

Today I have to give a shout out to the Dirt Diva, Catra Corbett. Catra is going for her 100th hundred mile finish this weekend! Awesome and awe inspiring!

And of course Truman will be her number 1 supporter!

Go Catra, you inspire many all over the world.

12 Things About Me

This has been going around on FB and I decided to share it here as well. I was given #12 by AJH from Age Groups Rock for the 12 letters in Johannesburg. So here is 12 things you may or may not know about me:

1 - My wife Anette is my best friend.

2 - I switched from playing rugby to running cross country in St8 (grade 10) because I was too small for rugby and getting injured. I broke my arm in my first cross country race!

3 - I am busy writing a book – no I am not letting out any secrets!

4 - I love nature and animals more than most people can ever understand.

5 - I have run 1278 official races, including 126 marathons and 117 ultra marathons.

6 - On average I buy 4 pairs of running shoes per year.

7 - I love statistics!

8 - Gardening is one of my favorite ways to relax and switch off my mind.

9 - In the 1990’s my resting pulse rate was 34.

10 - Birds and trees play a huge role in why I love nature so much.

11 - I always had dreams of becoming a Vet, Marine Biologist or Game Ranger…Go figure that I would end up in IT…

12 - I love IT!

Life is life...

I always accept life for what it is and make the best of every situation while staying positive. But even my patience can get a bit thin at times. The first thing that causes this to happen is life interfering with my running.

I'm going through a stage like that at the moment and it is not good at all.

My foot is recovering well from the cut it received when I dropped some broken glass on it. Good enough to start running again, but I did miss more than a week because of this.

Then work happened... I spent the whole weekend, and still doing the same right now, analyzing stats from graphs like the one below. Long hours for tonight as well means probably no running tomorrow morning. I hate it when work interferes with my running!

On top of that we've been having some mean storms here in Johannesburg. So bad that our thatch lapa was blown down on Saturday morning.

From Wikipedia for my overseas friends:
(A lapa is a structure that is popular in South Africa. It usually consists of a thatched roof supported by wooden poles. Lapas are commonly used as semi-open entertainment areas. It is sometimes misspelled as lapha. Lapa can suitably be accepted as a variant of the widely known gazebo. 

Yep... life is life!